Imagine if you will that it’s a warm Friday night and you’re drinking outside your local Public House, when a man with bandages around both hands walks up and brandishes a weapon. It’s likely that the first thought running through your mind would not be about Ubisoft’s latest release, Splinter Cell: Conviction. However that’s exactly what some poor people had to endure in New Zealand on Friday.

The man brandishing the “weapon” was in fact an actor with a plastic replica in his hand, hired to bizarrely market the release of Splinter Cell: Conviction. Police were called to the scene and it was quickly established no-one was in danger. Unsurprisingly, the police took a dim view on proceedings and two men were cautioned. “We consider these types of stunts to be very ill-advised and have real concerns a similar one may one day end in tragedy”, commented one officer.

Monaco Corporation are the marketing team representing Ubisoft New Zealand, however they said they hired another firm for this particular stunt, though they had “no idea” guns were to be used. However it seems the marketing didn’t make too much of an impact, since the New Zealand Herald refer to the game as “Splinter Cell Evolution”. Must try harder, Ubisoft.